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Hi!
>> We havent been doing weaves for very long and I am not convinced she understands them yet in spite of her successes. I want her to be tackling 4 poles with more conviction before I advance too much.>>
True, it takes a while to cement the understanding for the poles.
>> These days we can tug and chase the toy around equipment. BUt He was shuting down. When further away he plays these games happily but as soon as he thinks agility might be involved he shuts down. Very fine line between where he is happy playing and how close can get.>>I think it is important to be able to play and interact around the equipment, but maybe those particular games had too much pressure? Maybe try simpler things like asking him to put his chin in your hand for a cookie, etc – things that can help the arousal level around obstacles.
Also, the reinforcement might need to be different – do you cue him to take off for a run as well? I believe the freedom to interact with the environment and run around is very reinforcing for him!
>> Then attempt to do the courses but I kept losing track and sending him the wrong way – common theme I think I got lost multiple times with all my dogs.
Aha! Do you walk the courses several times before you run them? Getting lost is frustrating to the dogs.
On the sequence:
Keep moving at 4 for the send, you were standing still at 2:00 And 2:22. Being entirely stationary is a big collection cue so you don’t want to send him straight past you in extension. More closer to the tunnel #3 so you can be moving when he exits it.
>> I had issues with him getting angry on the dig but worked oout he was happier when I was further away from the jump – so need to remember this and work on getting closer.
Is the dig the wrap? (Hard to hear). I don’t think it was position near the jump, but I think it was clarity of cue.
He got mad at 2:05 – as he exited the tunnel, you were A bit sideways, stationary, a bit far from the jump and pointing forward so he didn’t know what to do. He offered a backside after that, which is rewardable because you were indicating with your outside arm so it turned your shoulders/feet to the backside line. You looked a little clearer at 2:27 (closer and more connected) but he went to the middle jump – I am not sure if you wanted him to turn tight there? The cues look the same so it might be a bit confusing for him (yes, the verbals might be different, but motion will help support and clarify that for him).
Sequence 2 – you were clearer on the wrap at 4 (Closer and more connected) but keep moving – turns lose clarity if extension is also cued when you stand still. So on the lines where you want him to run in extension, move in and out of them rather than send with an arm. For the tighter turns, you can use deceleration or standing still to help cue those – I think that will really help him see the difference.
Keep moving up the closing line on both sequences – you were not really moving so he was not sure if he should turn or not, so he pulled a rail on both ending lines.
>> Fusion – introduced her to an increased height on sequences for the first time and saw an increase in her arousal level although highly distracted by something on the ground. Reminding me that key emphasis is working on her focus – can just imagine her having a party at nationals with six rings close together and just ropes separating….
The sniffing distraction could be a response to the added difficulty and stress of it – so you can gradually introduce more height: rather than all jumps getting taller, just raise the height of one jump on an easy line. Then a week later, raise another… and so on. When is Nationals? She is a bit young to have 2021 Nationals as a goal because so many pieces need to be both trained AND rehearsed in trials before then.
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! The course is in the image is more of a tunnel threadle than bypass. Bypass is ‘take nothing til otherwise told’ (bleh, my dogs hate them lol!) so if I used the bypass at the jump before the tunnel then my dogs would theoretically go to the left lead and chase my line, taking the tunnel out of the picture entirely. The tunnel threadle cue is more accurate for them – that first tunnel entry isn’t exactly on their line (it would be a ‘get out’ cue if I wanted it) but it is visible enough that my threadle cue should tell them to go directly to the other side of the tunnel. It is a grey area for sure but because they would have to change leads and turn away to find it, the tunnel threadle fits it best (a regular ‘tunne’ cue does not have a lead change like that).
Hope that makes sense, I am coffee deprived hahaT
Good morning!
>> Are you sure I can’t convince you to move to New Orleans and let me cook for you? Your feedback is just so awesome and detailed!>>
Thanks! Mmmm…. cooking… i am food motivated lol
>>I’m very glad you brought up the stay because this is something I need accountability on. It’s been evolving. >>
Stays are a source of challenge for a lot of handlers!
>>Initially he had A WONDERFUL stay. So good in fact that he often wouldn’t release and would stay there sniffing the ground- which was a major source of frustration and tested just about every skill I had in patience>>
That sounds like a bit of stress, actually, so I am glad he isn’t sniffing!
>>To get around the initial disconnect and failure to release I did a lot of stuff where we didn’t require a stay- start with a wrap or send him through my legs.
That is fine, for when you don’t want to ask for a stay for whatever reason.
>>Now back to the stay. I don’t have a formal position requirement between sit or down. I do feel like it’s a bit easier for me to see when he gets up from a down over a sit, but often I miss that. I try to stay connected on the walk out but like I’m not always seeing it even though I am looking.
As far as release goes.. this is probably where the grey area exists. Starting out if I just said okay (his release word), he was so literal that he wouldn’t take the first obstacle in front of him and would run directly to me, so I started cuing the first obstacle as the release… In all other times (non agility) I use okay and I could see where that would be confusing.>>There are a lot of ways to get a great stay and a lot of opinions on ‘the only way’ – which of course is not true LOL! But the main thing is consistency so the dog can predict what is happening. Lack of consistency will lead to a lot of stress and frustration.
You can cue a position if you think he will absolutely happily give it to you and not move. If not? Let him offer a position. And be connected and lead out and release with clarity (and release before he breaks so that he doesn’t get in trouble for self-releasing and also so you don’t let him self-release and keep running – there is a history of those so you want to dial it back to be able to pump up the reinforcement.
>> Starting out if I just said okay (his release word), he was so literal that he wouldn’t take the first obstacle in front of him and would run directly to me,
Not taking the obstacle in front of him in that situation is a training thing – it doesn’t mean you change the release procedure, it means you train the dog to understand the release procedure.
.>>I have been just so happy that he’s been into the game that I’ve not worked his stay much.
Not working it is fine… but then you can’t ask for it and definitely can’t tell him he is wrong if he break it. Think of it differently: you don’t work the teeter, for example. He seems into it but doesn’t really understand it – would you still ask for it on course, or if you ask for it, tell him he is wrong when he doesn’t do it correctly? I would not ask for it if it has not been trained and clarified 🙂 So – since the start line is a really important thing, I vote for training and clarifying it.
>> Would you just recommend releasing to reward a stay intermittently to keep him successful?
Yes, for the rest of his career including at trials. I throw rewards back, I release the dog back to a reward behind him, and I release forward to the obstacle as well then reward (or run the course). These all have different cues, but that is part of the clarification process. And super short lead outs for now to be able to reward reward reward 🙂
>>I have gotten so many different opinions on releases. You should be completely still, you should be moving, the obstacle can cue the release… no wait it CANT so it’s just all bad. Keep bugging me, I like to people please and be right so I am happy to morph it into whatever he needs.>>
Gathering opinion is good! But then choose what you want to do and be super consistent and clear – if something is not working, the fix is in timing, criteria and rate/placement of reinforcement (not necessarily changing all the things). I personally have no problem with standing still or moving when releasing, because my motion/position while releasing dictates the opening line and I have tried to be really consistent with the release verbal. The obstacle can cue the release if you want, or not. I use a release verbal but whatever you choose – be super consistent. The opinions you have gotten are all about the handling but the key to great stay behavior is all about the dog training.
>>>4-5 – you said ‘jump left’ at 1:00 and 1:41 and 2:15 – he was not sure if it was a wrap or a 180. I think left is the 180 verbal? You used ‘right’ on the 8-9 line in Seq 1).
>>this is where I need a bit of clarity to think what I want my words to mean. It didn’t quite seem like a full wrap to me but not quite a soft turn so I didn’t know what word to use…
Two ways to look at it:
Does he have to super collect to make the turn? If yes, it is a wrap verbal. Also, does he have to come all the way back around the wing really quickly? If yes, use the wrap verbal. Handling doesn’t matter, it is the dog’s behavior that dictates the verbals.>>Check and dig are my right and left wrap cues
Left and right should be my soft turn cues (still work in progress)
Pass is my backside slice
Seek is my backside wrap
Zip is my threadle wrap
Look is my threadle slice
In is my tunnel threadle
Out is to lead change and take an obstacle away from me
GO GO GO means run in extensions mostly straight until I cue you otherwise.>>Good list! Plus obstacle names, right?
>>When I did the verbal training in one of your last courses (not sure which one >_<, I just used the word, however I do want these to apply to like turns off the dw or perhaps out of the tunnel so I feel like the obstacle should also be cue? Maybe that’s the wrong though?>>
I do use the obstacle name (tunnel or dog walk) but then switch to the directional before the dog has to make a decision: for example, the tunnel cue happens as the dog is over or exiting the previous obstacle then the directional happens a solid 6 feet before they enter.
Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
>>I’m also out of town Sat-Tues to visit inlaws (who don’t like dogs. geesh!)>>
What is that? I Cannot process that LOL! (actually my parents don’t really like dogs, except the ones that win things or get on TV, then they think they are OK because they can brag to their friends LOL!!!!
>>With the Jacque pounce it was the middle of the sequence where she was the extension of his line as a distraction. He’s progressed from not trying to go visit when we come in or when we are setting up. Great plan on using the acclimation game. Now she just needs to hold another mini seminar…>>
That makes sense! And it sounds like he is making great progress! And I am sure she will hold more sessions, they look FUN!
Tracy
Hi! All sorts of good backing up here!!!
He had some hesitating in the first part of the video where he would back up but then stop right before putting his back feet on the board. So, start each session doing exactly what you did at 1:56 with him starting on the board (with you a little closer) – then cue him to step off it, then right back onto it. Those were the smoothest reps with stepping right back onto the board and really isolated the backing up nicely! Stay pretty close for now – when you got a little too far away, the hesitation came back a little.
The other thing we want him to do is look down more and not up at you. One thing you can try is having the MM between your feet! So he looks down the whole time 🙂 We will move you out of the position eventually, of course, but the MM between your feet could be a great way to get him to stop looking up at you for now 🙂
Great job!! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi again!
I agree – motion looked really good 🙂 She likes the action! And she is looking straight, which is great. Are you going to do a running dog walk with her?
For the turns – I think the treats were a little close to the board, then she needed a little more connection to get back on. She was also starting to look up at you with the turns, so throw further off the board to help get her looking forward and that also gives her more room to line up to get back on it. And mix in lots of straight reps too to keep her looking forward.
As with the back and forth game (above) – you can raise the board on this one too 🙂 For the turns, you don’t want to raise it a lot but she is definitely ready for a little bit of height.Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
This went really well – she is very confident! I like that she was able to run fast and keep looking straight here. Yay!
If you use big easy-to-find chunks (like cheese balls) she will find things easily in the grass – you can throw the rewards further off the end of the board now too, so get even more speed!>> 1.30 she gets distracted on the board. Looking ofr treats?
I think what happened there was that you tossed the reward but she didn’t see the toss – so she started to looking down at the plank. On the reps after that, you tossed a little later while she was looking forward, so she saw it and then she could race off the plank.
Because it went really well, it is time to raise the plank! Do you have some cinderblocks or low tables? I think you can do this with the plank about a foot off the ground.
Great job!
TracyYes! Showing all turn cues before the dogs enter the tunnel is a big help to getting the ending line. For my big dogs, I need to give the verbal and start the turn while they are about 6 feet away from entering. It really helps!
I think she will really enjoy this with more room and will go even faster 🙂 FUN!T
Hi there!
This was interesting to see as it really tell us about his evolution. Over the winter, he really loved the YES and YAY stuff, it got him pumped up – but now I think he wants more of the facts and less of the woohoo haha! What I mean by that is when he is working, just give the next cue instead of the YES then the next cue – when you yes’d him, he would hesitate a little: “Is there a reward or is there more?” So, I think he has entered the ‘just the facts, ma’am’ stage of course running LOL!So on the sequence – lots of good work! He seems to really know his lines and also know how to use his body. So… I want to see if you can let him rip more 🙂 On the big 4-5-6 pinwheel, send to 5 then get outta there and see if he can find his line and what he does in terms of speed as he chases the next line. No turns cues needed – no right cue, no decel – just send and leave at high speed. A jump verbal is fine. On the runs here, you were going into the pinwheel and decelerating and using your right verbal… but I don’t think he needs it 🙂
Same with the right turn at 8-9: I do think your right verbal was perfect here! But you can play with one step of a send then accelerating away (rather than decel and turn). He was reading it all perfectly, so now we can press our luck and challenge him to let you leave at high speed.
So in a nutshell – let’s compare they really nice turns with the wider giddy up lines and see what the stopwatch says 🙂
The wrap cues at 11 both looked good – it was hard to time the difference because the send versus the spin were starting at different points in the training session. I think the turn on the send was great and if you can leave sooner (don’t wait for him) then he can chase you to the tunnel as fast as he would if you had done the spin (which also looked good). So if you have a chance to run these again, try the wrap with the send and go, and try it with the spin, and we will see what is faster 🙂
I did not time the difference between the first run and the last run because the first run was faster… because you had Nemo. LOL! The 2nd run was all about ignoring Nemo – that is a great skill for trials! But doesn’t make for a good handling comparison LOL! So keep Nemo with you when you want to compare handling, but definitely do sometimes throw in a no Nemo/HH run to help him learn to run without the toy in your hand.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
On the teeter, you can try duct taping a spoon to the underside as the treat holder (super fancy haha!). She did a good job figuring out this game, especially after being a bit nervous at first! For now, move with her up the board – she was doing the recalls by the end but she is a lot more confident when you are moving with her. When she is more and more confident in coming weeks, then you can revisit the stays and recalls – and you’ll see her start to run up the board, which is perfect! One thing to remember in skills training in particular, is to set a timer so that you get a 3 minute session total… then be finished for the day (or maybe try another 2 or 3 minutes several hours later, but still it keeps the total training time low). Border Collies make it easy to train for too long because a lot of them will keep going even when brain and body are tired out. So this was almost 13 minutes of video, which is too many reps and a whole lot of food for her for the same day of training. So resist temptation to keep going – when my timer goes off, I finish up so I don’t overwork the dog (even if it appears the dog will continue). The result of short sessions is that you’ll get more speed and excitement for the skill, plus better learning because the dog is fresh (plus the rest in between allows the brain to cement the learning solidly in place).
The Wingin’ It sequences looked really good! Her commitment is looking developing on both the wings and the tunnel!!!
She had some questions on the starts of some of the reps, mainly because she was facing you (which makes it harder to send her away). Something you can add to make it easier is to start her with a line up position at your side (like a sit, you can use a cookie lure to get her to your side) or a cookie toss back behind you so after she gets it, you both can be facing the right direction before you move. That will make that very first send very smooth.
The right side one-step sending looked strong! And things also went well when you switched to the left side – when you connected to her when she exited the tunnel and then sent to the wing, she was great! If you sent before she exited or without as much connection, she was not as sure about sending (like at 2:06 when you were behind her after the tunnel, for example).
Your FCs back to the tunnel after the wings looked good – you were really emphasizing connection and that set the lines really well. You had one little late one at 2:13, but you recognized that and rewarded her 🙂 The rest looked so lovely and smooth!! Yay!>> As is typical for me, I kind of forgot the sequences that I was supposed to be doing, and may have ended up doing something a little different. >>
I think it was pretty much spot on! And it is about the concepts anyway, not about the exact sequences. You can spread things out a bit more now, to add more challenge.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
Thanks for the update on the transition and verbals games! Sounds like he is doing really well!
>> he just stares at me like I’m nuts>>
All of the dogs do that when we make it hard LOL! If he still does it, you can maybe do half jumping jacks to make it a little easier.
>>I ran it and then studied the video during dinner, then went out to train and rerun.>>
Perfect!!! Love this!
I think the session went well. Some ideas for you:
>>I was actually pretty happy overall with his turns…a little less so with my handling (of course). >>
You were good! I have no big issues with your handling, just ideas as we try to figure out what the fastest lines/cues are for him.
>>I thought on the pinwheel he could have found the line just a little quicker,
Do you mean more extension? If so, then yes – but I think he was collecting in response to your right verbals there. Good boy! I don’t think he needs a right verbal on those, it is a pretty extended line for him and right is a collection verbal (it was perfect for 8-9) here.
Also, you can send and leave more on that, rather than run in and round the line with him – that can get more extension and quickness throughout.>> perhaps turned tighter on 10-11-12,
The collection before the jump was really great. I think you can do the spin sooner so that as he lands and comes around the wing, you are already cuing the tunnel – on the runs here, you were focusing on the takeoff side collection which made the exit to the tunnel late: so he had to hesitate to wait on your cue.
And the other thing is… you can try cuing it sooner and letting him rip more – tell him what you want then leave so you are reconnected sooner and can cue the tunnel sooner… and let him jump a little wider. It is entirely possible that he will be faster like that!
>>and then he checked in with me on the straight line out. I think a little of the problem may be that I had a bumper and he kept looking to see if the bumper was going to be thrown – it’s a little too high value for longer sequences. >>
Yes – he checked in on them except when you were way ahead on the very last one (that was great!) It might be the value of the bumper, but also you were standing up, decelerating, moving it – so try it with the bumper but leaning forward into the run and pumping your arms, with big connection to him – and throw it when you see him look forward.
>> I actually think a piece I missed was that he was a little unsure in the 8-9 turn. I think he does the turn on 8 well, but then isn’t confident about totally committing to 9. He slows down just a bit which I acknowledged by giving him a “yes” to assure him in the rerun.>>
It is a weird line but he did well! At :17, he asked a little question maybe because your left arm was forward and blocking connection there. The send and leave at 1:04 of the rerun looked good on 8, really good! Then as he was heading towards 9, your shoulder closed forward and he looked up at you – so try leaving your left arm locked back and your eyes on his eyes, and see if that clarifies things on that line.
Great job here! You can try those ideas and I would definitely love to see the comparison of very tight versus not as tight on the 11 wraps!
Tracy
Good morning!
I think these looked great!!!! Some details from each video:Video 1 – one thing you can add is to get moving as soon as you send her into the tunnel – you were stationary then sprinted into the cross, which made the cues late. You were probably just thinking about wait to do, and not intentionally waiting for her 🙂 On the reps after the first one like at :30, you had much better use of motion and it made the cross smoother too 🙂 And nice low arms! Great connection!
You added more distance at :52 and 1:13 which out you in good position to start the FC even earlier. One detail is to move more towards 5 (jump after the cross) and not as much between the uprights of 4. Dogs run to our position, so getting between the uprights was causing her to (correctly) jump long, which meant you had to push her back to 5, which meant you couldn’t decel to show the tight turn at 5. Being closer to 5 to begin the cross makes it all easier.
You had really lovely patient connection on the 5-6-7 each time! Nice connection throughout all of it!!
Video 2, other direction, also super nice! Remember to keep moving when you send her to the tunnel, don’t wait and then accelerate into the cross because it causes more extension than we want there.
And try to move more towards 5 (and less towards 4) on these too.
But also really great connection on these! She looked great and you were ablw to get a lot of speed and flow!Video 3
The BC at :10 was a little late (you were just warming up LOL!) but you had great connection on the exit of it and also strong position.The BC to the tunnel at :24 was good… but the BC at :38 was AWESOME. And the BC at :53 was even MORE AWESOME!!!! You were really starting to trust her lines and commitment, so your timing and position and connection all looked great. It looks like you got rid of all of the questions from the first time you tried it – those last 2 reps in particular were total grand slams. Yay!
That last video is hysterical! She is an excellent student LOL!!! She really likes the tunnel verbals LOL! And she knows the little ending ditty means time for her to get to play 🙂
Great job on these! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
“”Cries in task organized fashion 😆””
Ah yes, but training is not task-focused, it is concept-focused 🙂
Good job on all of these sequences – there was a MUCH higher rate of success and reinforcement, which corresponded directly to more speed and engagement. Happy dance!
Going through the videos:
Seq 1:
The opening looked great: connected and fast!
On the 4-5 line – when he lands from 4 try a one step send and then leave to cue the turn – you’ll have to decelerate in order to send, which is perfect because the decel is part of the turn cue. You did that send and leave at 1:46 and 2:20 of the second sequence and it looked great!8-9 looked good here, a lot more connected!
2 things caused the accidental backside at 11:
– when he was entering the tunnel at :29, the last thing he saw was you accelerating on the line which set up the extension exit (and no turn verbal, you pushed the mute button lol)
– Motion towards the takeoff spot at 11 at :30 caused pressure into the line (couldn’t hear if there was a wrap verbal or not): voila, backside!
Good job just continuing to the nice fast ending wheeeee!
So to get the front side – let him see you turn to towards the front before he goes into the tunnel, call him, and don’t pressure in towards the takeoff spot.One thing to be careful of with tunnel exits too – when you won’t a straight line exit, do a post turn to get up the next line (not a spin). You were showing spins, but the spins are turn cues and there is no turn on that tunnel exit. We don’t want to dilute the power of the turn cue by pairing it with straight line exits.
Seq 2:
Now that I have bugged you to clarify reinforcement procedures, I will move to bugging you to clarify the start line procedure. It is a little muddy and that is going to stress him out. On the first run you did a line up cue, said sit, he downed, then he stood, then you released. At 1:30 I think you said settle down? but then there was no clear release – you turned your head, he got up, you both ran. At 2:07 you ask for a sit, he moved, then you cued lie down then stay… but he was up from the down and then there was the release. So at some point something will go wrong and he will get marked as wrong – but he won’t know exactly what is correct. You don’t need to be picky about a position: You can ask for a line up and then let him choose the position rather than cue one thing and get another. But be clear, be consistent – and be clear on the releases in terms of connection and verbal before the release.Missing the tunnel on the opening – yes you can totally be connected longer and help with handling support like you did on the 2nd rep and also at :58.
Also, he is a youngster and he has trouble ‘seeing’ things when there is a big distraction behind it. We saw that with the backside wing on the courses from last week and I think it is the same here – he doesn’t really ‘see’ the tunnel in the face of running towards all the distractions on the street.
So it is more of a ‘set up a tunnel in front of distractions’ thing and reward a lot of sends to a short easy tunnel. Then I think the handling will be much easier!
This is also good to know for trials, as you will want to really support all lines at trials when there are visual distractions everywhere.At :29 – you got quiet when he entered the tunnel and accelerated, so your running line totally presented the DW. Block it off with jump wings if it is not in play then you don’t have to call him off it as a discrimination if it is on an obvious line. And keep calling and showing lines before he enters the tunnel, that will help too!
4-5 – you said ‘jump left’ at 1:00 and 1:41 and 2:15 – he was not sure if it was a wrap or a 180. I think left is the 180 verbal? You used ‘right’ on the 8-9 line in Seq 1). I think a wrap verbal would help here and either a spin or a send and go so he can see how tight you want the line.
The #5 tunnel entry is another place to post turn (not spin) to cue the straight line to 6.
6-7 is also a good send moment – go only a step or two past 6 and decel so when he lands, you can send him to 7 and peel away to get the cross 8-9. You ran hard into the pinwheel on the first pass through there (which sends him long) which muddies the FC timing – but you did the send and go at 1:46 and 2:20 and it was great! And the send and leave made for a nice blind on those! Wheee!And on that last tunnel: post turn, not spin 🙂 to show the exit as being straight.
And yes he did enjoy the last go line LOL!Seq 3:
This opening might have felt weird because you ran it with 2 as a front side – it is a backside which makes the whole thing smoother.
To run it as a front side, you would want to lead out to 2 and get a really collected turn and FC through the gap. You were running into it and doing a accelerated FC so he was wide.The rest looked great! Little details to think about:
On the 5 backside at :39 and 1:34, you gave a serp arm to bring him in (I think that is what was happening) – you don’t need it, you can just stay connected and keep running, that is all he needs 🙂 Pass means ‘go to the backside and take the jump’ so you should not need to stay there and give additional cues.Call him sooner before the tunnel entry at #8 and start the blind when he can still see it. You were earlier on the blind on the 2nd rep!
You can add a little collection on 9 before the backside – decel is probably all he needs there because he is very responsive. And super nice spin on the 10-11 line to set up the ending line!!Bugging you about the stays here too: He had a broken stay on the 2nd rep and got in trouble… I just think there is some confusion so clarify things specifically and be consistent so he knows what to expect and what to do.
Great job on these! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
Both of these runs looked really strong! A couple of ideas for you:
When you are doing the warm up patterns, remember to use your markers when tossing treats at the beginning and I think you can add in a little more engagement/eye contact now before you toss the 2nd one. That was what you were doing right before the 2nd run (marker words for the cookie toss and a little more engagement) and he was great!
Sequence 1:
1st run – >>We had an off course into the Arborvitaae trees just before the #3 Tunnel! >>I don’t think it was a tree distraction – I think he was looking at the weave base there as an obstacle (I think that is the weave base). So it was an honest error when he went to the weave base, the visual was on his line and we have been emphasizing independent weaves LOL! On the 2nd run, he was still looking at the weave base so you called him more and he turned. That is good to know that he is very literal – he will drive a line if you are driving a line, so you can turn and call him before he takes off for 2 to get his eyes on the tunnel and not on the weave base.
The 4-5 send looked great and the first run and even better on the 2nd run!! NICE!
8-9 looked good too but it might be too much decel on that first run. You had less decel at 1:31 on the 2nd run to 8, but then once you have the turn I think you can accelerate again. At 1:33 you were still decelerated so he slowed down to watch you a lot. So you can play with decelerating and using the verbals to get the turn, but then once he is turned, accelerate again.
On your tunnel exits here, remember to call him before he goes into the tunnel. You praise a lot too – I don’t think he needs it here in training, but it might be helpful at trials (some dogs LOVE that!) So at the NFC trials coming, see how he does if you praise a lot versus how he does if you just keep using verbals for obstacles and turns.
Remember your wrap verbal on the first rep, that will help make things even smoother. On the 2nd rep had your verbal tight tight going and he did well with that turn! You can also tell him tunnel sooner – when he came around the wing you were decelerating and still saying tight, so I think you can add your go tunnel cue the instant you see his nose coming around the wing there.
Really nice fast ending line on both reps!!!
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
Yes, this is a lot harder than it looks LOL!!>>Wilson thought is was nutz
Yes, all of the dogs have at least one moment where they look at us like we are completely insane. They might be correct LOL!!!
The first sessions of these games are always to hash out what the dogs truly understand or not. You did a good job rewarding the little increments and it was totally interesting to see what each dog was doing!Wilson’s turns:
>>. I had forgotten how sit is a default for him when he’s waiting for me for something.. I had forgotten how sit is a default for him when he’s waiting for me for something.THat would explain why he was sitting and staring at the toy. Good to know! One thing I would do, then, is hold something he wants and stand still and just cue a down or stand or spin. You can start with a cookie because that might be less exciting than the toy, then move it back to toys when he can respond to different cues.
And one thing about those cues… can you do it on verbal only? Your cues also had hand signals attached, so I am not sure he processes the verbals separately (and would have to be looking at you for the hand signal).
So you can get the verbal to be more independent by saying it while beig totally stationary – then about a second later, give the hand signal. The ‘new’ cue (spin, for example) will help him anticipate the old cue (hand signal) and he will start to respond on the verbal only so you can fade the hand signal.
Being able to respond to the verbal without a hand signal and also in the presence of something he wants will make for smooth sailing as we add more crazy motion.Demi thought you were only a little nuts here (Wilson thought you were entirely nuts haha!) As with Wilson, I think her hardest part was that there are physical cues attached to the verbals you were using: hand signal for sit, and walking towards her for back. And when you added more crazy motion, you would then stop and do the hand signal or movement towards her. So before adding in the crazy motion, you can play with getting these behaviors entirely on a verbal only (verbal then physical cue, rather than simultaneous cues) – then you can add in moving/dancing/etc. That will also help her keep sit and down as different behaviors, because she was guessing a little when there was distracting motion.
Great job rewarding both dogs – they found this really hard (because it IS really hard LOL!)
And for both of them, you can reward the “mine” cue to get the ball back – neither was quick to release the ball, probably because there was no reinforcement directly associated with it. They would out it and then have to work to earn it, which is not entirely reinforcing for giving it back in the first place LOL! So you can give them a cookie for the reponse to mine, or give them the toy back on a lot of the reps, or have 2 toys so you can reward with the other one.
>>Incidentally, am I breaking all the rules of AU? Should I not be posting videos of both dogs at the same time?>>
Nope, you have not gone rogue or feral haha! You can post both dogs (it applies into the round 1 and round 2 videos in the guidelines section).
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
